Sick Child: Please pass the Cheetos

The second half of this week has focused entirely on Lochlan's health and not on mine. I've been worried about him and trapped in the house, which has led to an uncontrollable food fest on my part. : (

After fighting a losing battle against a really high fever, I took him to the emergency room this afternoon. He was so hot after his afternoon nap that I filled the tub immediately and even after that his temp read 104.4, which was enough to freak me out. He was due for the ibuprofen as well, so I gave it to him and made necessary phone calls. **Special thank you to Alina here!** By the time we were seen, his fever had fallen to 101.5, and I was almost apologetic for taking their time. The big lesson I thought I would be walking away with was that I could give him more ibuprofen than the box indicated by using a formula based on a conversation of his weight in lbs to kilos. This was news to me but was repeated several times by the nursing staff and the resident doctor.

Then came the real doctor. : ) I'm sure that the resident will be a wonderful doctor at some point, but she was ready to send us on our way while assuring us that the antibiotics would do their part but that he probably just had some virus. The real doctor chose to order a blood test and to start an iv to get some fluids in him. I think the rest of the staff was skeptical about the decision, and I wondered if it was just a CYA hospital policy to keep ordering tests or if she really thought there was something else to find. Based on the results for the blood work, she ordered a chest xray. Five hours from start to finish, we left knowing that in addition to the ears, his tonsils are very infected and he has pneumonia as well. :(

We're now on our third antibiotic for the week, have upped the dose of his bedtime ibuprofen, and are crossing our fingers that he starts to get well.